Karakuri Kengouden Musashi Road is one of those weird little Game Boy action-RPGs that never made it outside Japan—which is a shame, because it’s got this odd charm to it. You play as a wandering swordsman (of course) slicing through enemies with a mix of real-time combat and weirdly strategic weapon upgrades. The first thing you’ll notice? The sprites are tiny, but the animations have this snappy energy to them.

It’s not just mindless slashing, either. You’ve got to juggle between different swords, each with their own quirks—some are slow but hit like a truck, others are quick but leave you open. Took me a few deaths to realize spamming attacks gets you wrecked fast. There’s also this weird puppet-mechanic (karakuri means "mechanism" or "trick," after all) where certain stages have traps or hidden paths, so you’re poking around corners more than you’d expect.

Definitely rough around the edges, but if you’re into obscure retro action with a hint of jank, it’s a neat little time capsule from the Game Boy era.